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You can grow cucumbers in a container garden! Here are the six types of cucumber that will thrive and produce a huge harvest in pots or containers.
Cucumbers are a great vegetable for beginning gardeners to grow in containers. They come in different sizes and colors–from tiny baby cucumbers to round lemon cucumbers.
With a small trellis or tomato cage for support, you can easily grow lots of delicious cucumbers in containers. These six varieties are designed to be compact and still produce a great harvest.
Are you a brand new gardener? Not sure what to plant or when to plant it? I can help.
You’ll find lots of great information in my new book, The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening.
Crazy about container gardening? Check out Best Types of Zucchini to Grow in Containers and Growing Chard in Containers.
Let’s get out in the garden!
Best Cucumbers to Grow in Containers
Spacemaster 80
Even though Spacemaster 80 is a small plant, it produces lots of flavorful, full-sized slicing cucumbers. Its vines only grow up to 3 feet high, so a quality 5-gallon pot with a tomato cage tucked inside is perfect. Some folks say you can even grow them in a hanging basket!
To avoid damage to the fruit or the vine, harvest cucumbers by cutting the stem rather than pulling from the vine.
Spacemaster is resistant to cucumber mosaic virus and scab.
Tasty Green
Tasty Green is a Japanese cucumber, which are known for their slender, long shape, thin skin, and few seeds. Japanese cucumbers have a mild flavor and are “burpless,” which means they contain less cucurbitacin. This is a compound that causes bitterness and increases the likelihood of burping after eating the cucumber.
The vines are heavy producers and can grow up to 7 feet tall. It’s best to grow them in a sturdy container with attached trellis.
Tasty Green is resistant to to powdery mildew and can tolerate small amounts of downy mildew without damage.
Heirloom Lemon
Isn’t this a beauty? Lemon Cucumber has been a favorite since 1894 but is hard to find in grocery stores. This eye-catching, lemon-sized cucumber has excellent flavor and can be eaten skin and all, just like an apple. (They don’t taste like a lemon or an apple, but have a mild cucumber flavor.)
The vines grow between 3-4 feet high, so a quality 5-gallon pot with a tomato cage tucked inside is perfect for lemon cucumbers. They’re more drought tolerant than other varieties.
Bush Slicer
Bush Slicer cucumbers grow in record time on dwarf bushes. They have smooth, tender skin with small seed cavities and sweet, crisp flesh.
Since they are a bush-type a trellis isn’t required--but they'll do well in a Smart Pot with a bit of support.
Bush Slicer is resistant to powdery mildew, cucumber mosaic virus and scab.
Green Fingers Persian
Green Fingers is our favorite snacking cucumber. They’re smooth, thin-skinned, crispy, and ready to pick when just 3 to 5 inches long. I like to tuck them into the kids’ lunches or slice them up for salads.
Although the cucumbers are small, the vines can be large--up to 7 feet tall. It’s best to grow them in a large container with attached trellis.
Green Fingers can tolerate small amounts of powdery mildew without damage.
Marketmore
Marketmore is a beautiful, dark green slicing cucumber that was developed at Cornell University in 1968. The vines can grow up to 6 feet tall, so I recommend a container with attached trellis, like this one.
These tasty cukes are ready to pick when 6"–8" long, and the vines will continue to produce with regular picking.
Marketmore is a sturdy variety and is resistant to cucumber mosaic virus, scab, and mildews.
More About Container Gardening
How many varieties of cucumber are you growing this year? Any unusual types?
